both before define creating races

Ancient Red Dragon Legacy

Monsters Basic Rules (2014)

horns and spinal frill define its silhouette. Its beaked snout vents smoke at all times, and its eyes dance with flame when it is angry.A Red Dragon’s Lair Red dragons lair in high mountains or

lairs, creating hazards that hinder intruders and letting searing heat and volcanic gases wash over a dragon as it sleeps. With its hoard well protected deep within the lair, a red dragon spends as

Adult Red Dragon Legacy

Monsters Basic Rules (2014)

spinal frill define its silhouette. Its beaked snout vents smoke at all times, and its eyes dance with flame when it is angry.A Red Dragon’s Lair Red dragons lair in high mountains or hills

, creating hazards that hinder intruders and letting searing heat and volcanic gases wash over a dragon as it sleeps. With its hoard well protected deep within the lair, a red dragon spends as much of its

Klauth

Monsters Storm King's Thunder

damage and be knocked prone. Klauth can then fly up to half his flying speed.The odor of sulfur and pumice surrounds a red dragon, whose swept-back horns and spinal frill define its silhouette. Its

of abandoned mines and dwarven strongholds. Caves with volcanic or geothermal activity are the most highly prized red dragon lairs, creating hazards that hinder intruders and letting searing heat and

Metallic Dragonborn

Species Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

forge, the cold of high mountain air, the spark of inspiration, and the scouring touch of acid that purifies. Creating Your Character When you create your D&D character, you decide whether your

character is a member of the human race or one of the game’s fantastical races. If you select one of the dragonborn races in this chapter, follow these additional rules during character creation

Variant Aasimar

Species Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

This aasimar variant originally appeared in the Dungeon Master's Guide as an example for creating your own races. Whereas tieflings have fiendish blood in their veins, aasimar are the descendants of

Chapter 1: Fantastical Races

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monsters of the Multiverse

of these races are based on creatures that appear in the Monster Manual or the bestiary of this book. Consult with your DM to see whether an option here is appropriate for your campaign. If you do use a race in this chapter, first read the “Creating Your Character” section below.

Chapter 1: Fantastical Races Gathering together fantastical races from throughout the D&D multiverse, this chapter offers the following races for player characters, supplementing the race options in

Character Options

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dragon of Icespire Peak

in the group, encourage them to choose different classes so that the party has a range of abilities. It’s less important that the party include multiple races or backgrounds, as sometimes it’s fun to

play an all-dwarf party or a troupe of adventuring entertainers. Character Options Races Classes Backgrounds Dwarf Bard Acolyte Elf Cleric Criminal Halfling Fighter Entertainer Human Rogue Sage

Chapter 2: Creating a Multiverse

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

Chapter 2: Creating a Multiverse When adventurers reach higher levels, their path extends to other dimensions of reality: the planes of existence that form the multiverse. The characters might be

Limbo to contact a wizened githzerai sage. Planes of existence define the extremes of strange and often dangerous environments. The most bizarre locations present settings undreamed of in the natural

Creating a Dragonmarked Character

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron

Creating a Dragonmarked Character Dragonmarks are associated with race, depicted by a combination of variant races and subraces. For humans and half-orcs, a dragonmark is a variant race that replaces

normal traits associated with those races. For half-elves, a dragonmark is a variant race. You keep some of the standard half-elf traits and replace others with the traits associated with your mark

Harengon

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

dangers during adventures. Creating Your Character At 1st level, you choose whether your character is a member of the human race or of a fantastical race. If you select a fantastical race such as the

of a player character in the D&D multiverse is about a century, assuming the character doesn’t meet a violent end on an adventure. Members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live

Aarakocra

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

taper to sharp talons. Feathers cover their bodies—usually red, orange, yellow, brown, or gray. Their heads are also avian, often resembling those of parrots or eagles. Creating Your Character

violent end on an adventure. Members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live for centuries. If typical members of a race can live longer than a century, that fact is mentioned in the race

Satyr

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

existence, most often to the Material Plane. There they seek to bring a bit of their home plane’s splendor to other worlds. Creating Your Character At 1st level, you choose whether your character is a

. Life Span The typical life span of a player character in the D&D multiverse is about a century, assuming the character doesn’t meet a violent end on an adventure. Members of some races

Shadar-kai

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

, shadar-kai can live to be over 750 years old. Creating Your Character At 1st level, you choose whether your character is a member of the human race or of a fantastical race. If you select a fantastical

multiverse is about a century, assuming the character doesn’t meet a violent end on an adventure. Members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live for centuries. If typical members of a race

Water Genasi

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

others were born to non-genasi parents who lived near a place suffused by a genie’s magic. A typical genasi has a life span of 120 years. Creating Your Character At 1st level, you choose

. Members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live for centuries. If typical members of a race can live longer than a century, that fact is mentioned in the race’s description. Height and

Changeling Legacy

Species Eberron: Rising from the Last War

in stable communities where changelings are true to their nature and deal openly with the people around them. Some are orphans, raised by other races, who find their way in the world without ever

havens in major cities and communities, but most prefer to wander the unpredictable path of the god known as the Traveler. In creating a changeling adventurer, consider the character’s relationships

Draconic Races

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

section offers three variant dragonborn race options that can be used to create a character with clear connections to a specific draconic ancestry. When you’re making a new character using one of these races, use the rules under “Creating Your Character” to fill out the details.

Draconic Races It’s all too easy to prefer a certain color of dragonborn, but what’s inside is what really matters—which is to say, the sort of damage their breath can do to you. -Fizban The

Monsters and Motivations

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

Monsters and Motivations See chapter 3, “Creating Adventures” for guidance on creating encounters with monsters. To foster variety and suspense, be sure to include encounters of varying difficulty

adventurers. Characters might be able to appease a hungry beast by offering it food, and smarter creatures have complex motivations. The Monster Motivation table lets you use a monster’s goals to define its

Air Genasi

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

descendants of a genie, while others were born to non-genasi parents who lived near a place suffused by a genie’s magic. A typical genasi has a life span of 120 years. Creating Your Character

violent end on an adventure. Members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live for centuries. If typical members of a race can live longer than a century, that fact is mentioned in the race

Bugbear

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

formidable build, bugbears are quiet skulkers, thanks to a fey magic that allows them to hide in spaces seemingly too small for them. Creating Your Character At 1st level, you choose whether your

some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live for centuries. If typical members of a race can live longer than a century, that fact is mentioned in the race’s description. Height and Weight

Kenku

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

most often found in the Shadowfell and the Material Plane, and they tend to have the coloration typical of ravens. Creating Your Character At 1st level, you choose whether your character is a

Span The typical life span of a player character in the D&D multiverse is about a century, assuming the character doesn’t meet a violent end on an adventure. Members of some races, such as

Shifter

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

Weretiger Swiftstride 5 Werewolf (wolflike) Longtooth 6 Werewolf (doglike) Wildhunt Creating Your Character At 1st level, you choose whether your character is a member of the human

typical life span of a player character in the D&D multiverse is about a century, assuming the character doesn’t meet a violent end on an adventure. Members of some races, such as dwarves and

Giff

Species Spelljammer: Adventures in Space

blossom into hard feelings, loud arguments, and head-butting contests, but they rarely escalate beyond that. Creating Your Character When you create your D&D character, you decide whether your

character is a member of the human race or one of the game’s fantastical races. If you create a character using a race option presented here, follow these additional rules during character creation

Chromatic Dragonborn

Species Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

forest, toxic and corrosive. Creating Your Character When you create your D&D character, you decide whether your character is a member of the human race or one of the game’s fantastical races

. If you select one of the dragonborn races in this chapter, follow these additional rules during character creation. Ability Score Increases When determining your character’s ability scores

Gem Dragonborn

Species Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

echo of discovery—but also the desiccation of despair. Creating Your Character When you create your D&D character, you decide whether your character is a member of the human race or one of

the game’s fantastical races. If you select one of the dragonborn races in this chapter, follow these additional rules during character creation. Ability Score Increases When determining your

Chapter 1: This Is Your Life

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything

Chapter 1: This Is Your Life The character creation rules in the Player’s Handbook provide all the information you need to define your character in preparation for a life of adventuring. What they

backstory for your character — an autobiography of sorts — that you can use to inform how you roleplay the character. Your DM can draw from this material as the campaign proceeds, creating situations and scenarios that build off your previous life experiences.

Elf Adventurers

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

elves are born with or develop the qualities that mark them as potential adventurers, as other races define the term. Many traditional adventuring groups are happy to count an elf among their members, and

crusaders or heroes for hire. This aspect of elven life isn’t as well known among other races as it might be, because elves spend much of their “adventuring” years in places far away from other

Creating a Race or Subrace

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

Creating a Race or Subrace This section teaches you how to modify existing races, as well as create new ones. The most important step in customizing or designing races for your campaign is to start

the race compelling from a storytelling standpoint? What is the race’s relationship to the other playable races? What classes and backgrounds are well suited to members of the race? What are the race’s

Deep Gnome

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

. Creating Your Character At 1st level, you choose whether your character is a member of the human race or of a fantastical race. If you select a fantastical race, follow these additional rules during

doesn’t meet a violent end on an adventure. Members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live for centuries. If typical members of a race can live longer than a century, that fact is

Duergar

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

Underdark and beyond. Like other dwarves, duergar typically have a life span of 350 years. Creating Your Character At 1st level, you choose whether your character is a member of the human race or of a

of a player character in the D&D multiverse is about a century, assuming the character doesn’t meet a violent end on an adventure. Members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live

Minotaur

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

powerful backs, and some have long patches of hair on their chins and cheeks. Their legs end in heavy, cloven hooves, and they have long, tufted tails. Creating Your Character At 1st level, you

adventure. Members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live for centuries. If typical members of a race can live longer than a century, that fact is mentioned in the race’s description

Triton

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

fins on their calves, and coloration that favors blues and greens. Creating Your Character At 1st level, you choose whether your character is a member of the human race or of a fantastical race. If

in the D&D multiverse is about a century, assuming the character doesn’t meet a violent end on an adventure. Members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live for centuries. If

Ghaash'kala Characters

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War

Ghaash’kala Characters The Ghaash’kala are primarily orcs, but their numbers include a few half-orcs and members of other races. They devote their lives to guarding the Labyrinth and containing the

evils of the Wastes. When creating a Ghaash’kala character, consider the following: The Binding Flame. The Ghaash’kala worship Kalok Shash, the “Binding Flame.” Fundamentally the same religion as the

Why a Monstrous Character?

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters

Why a Monstrous Character? Creating characters as creatures normally cast as villains offers up some interesting roleplaying possibilities. Whether played for comedy, as a tragic story of betrayal

role these races play in your setting should determine the kinds of reactions that such characters meet. Don’t be afraid to push things to an extreme. An orc character might have to venture into town

Sinister Reflections

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

Sinister Reflections A Darklord’s memories, desires, mistakes, and evil deeds shape the domain’s twisted lands, inhabitants, and features. You need not create these in a vacuum, though. When creating

your own Darklord, consider the relationship that will define their evil in your adventures: their conflict with your players’ characters. Just as a Darklord is the inspiration for a domain, players

Starting Characters

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Spelljammer: Adventures in Space->Light of Xaryxis

add backgrounds and races from the Astral Adventurer’s Guide to the list of character options that players can choose from when creating their characters. As the DM, you decide what is available to

level. Alternatively, you can simply ask your players to create new 5th-level characters, as described in the next section. Character Creation If spacefaring races are common on your world, you can

D&D Beyond

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